Terminally-crosslinked sulfonated poly(fluorenyl ether sulfone) as a highly conductive and stable proton exchange membrane

• Published in: Macromolecular research Vol. 18; no. 10; pp. 992 - 1000
• Main Authors: Thankamony, Roshni Lilly, Lee, Myung-Gun, Kim, Kyuwon, Hong, Jong-Dal, Kim, Tae-Hyun, Lee, Hye-Jin, Kim, Hyoung-Juhn, Nam, SukWoo, Lim, Yong-beom
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Heidelberg The Polymer Society of Korea 01.10.2010; 한국고분자학회
• Subjects: Characterization and Evaluation of Materials; Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; Complex Fluids and Microfluidics; Nanochemistry; Nanotechnology; Physical Chemistry; Polymer Sciences; Soft and Granular Matter; 고분자공학; sulfonated poly(fluorenyl ether sulfone); proton conductivity; terminal crosslinking; polymer electrolyte membrane; dimensional stability
• ISSN: 1598-5032; 2092-7673
• DOI: 10.1007/s13233-010-1016-9

Sulfonated poly(fluorenyl ether sulfone) (PFES) with a terminally-crosslinked network structure was prepared by heat-induced crosslinking of the allyl-terminated telechelic sulfone polymers using a bisazide. The crosslinked polymer membrane with a sulfofluorenyl moiety of 70% (PFES-70) showed excellent hydrolytic, dimensional, and mechanical stability. The crosslinked PFES-70 membrane revealed a proton conductivity of 0.04 S/cm at 20 °C, which increased significantly with increasing temperature. The conductivity of 0.38 S/cm at 100 °C for PFES-70 was higher than that of both non-crosslinked (0.33 S/cm) and Nafion® (0.17 S/cm). In addition, the crosslinked PFES-70 showed a methanol permeability of only 1.4% (3.9×10 −8 cm 2 /s) compared to Nafion®.